Research Goal

The effect of surface charges at surfaces in aqueous media has a strong effect on transport of species in micro- and nano-channels. It determines not only the magnitude and direction of the flow, but also affinity that the species in water have with the walls of the channels.  However, knowing what the effect of moieties have on the surface charge at the wall, and at the inner and outer Helmholtz planes within aqueous solutions, with and without ions.  Unfortunately, such measurements are very difficult, and the only experimental technique is by measuring the streaming potential to get a zeta potential.  We are using different techniques, including AFM work relating charge to the electrostatic forces and electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using molecular structures that permit tunneling to measure IV characteristics at the solid/solution interface, as well as IV measurements through nanopores, using model fittings to extract the effects of surface moieties within nanopores.  (WaterCAMPWS and nano-CEMMS)  

Research Team:

Acknowledgement:

Work partially supported by NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center Grant #

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